


please turn green

by caandle



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eren Is a Little Shit, Fluff, Gay, Levi curses a lot, Levi/Eren Yeager-centric, M/M, Mutual Pining, My First Fanfic, Pining, Pining Levi, different POVs, eren makes levi's heart race faster than the race cars eren has a hard on for, like a crazy amount, shirtless Eren
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2018-12-02 12:42:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11509668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caandle/pseuds/caandle
Summary: "So... you come here often?""You've got to be fucking kidding me."Levi, ever the punctual man, always arrives at a specific (old) traffic light at exactly 6:30 a.m. Unfortunately, so does a pretty-eyed kid in a beat up car that makes his heart race and damn, if the world wasn't cruel enough - he's always shirtless.





	1. Shirtless Excuse #1

**Author's Note:**

> I always read fanfiction here and I do write from time to time but I've never really considered actually posting anything but here it is. I'm not sure how this'll go and all I know this fic will be very short. (I intended it to be a one shot but that didn't end up happening).  
> This is the product of an extremely bored (deteriorating from exhaustion) person at 1a.m. with work the next day :') 
> 
> Enjoy, if you're reading this.

**6:14 A.M**

Levi held the steaming cup of coffee placed firmly in the cup holder of his car ready to flip his shit if anything spilt. As good of a place Petra's coffee shop was, her fucking ground was bumpy as shit. (He really should file his 104th complaint, but he knew anything with his name on it would cause an eye roll). Once he reached the perfectly flat main road he heard his phone chime annoyingly for a solid minuted straight consecutively - Hanji, the shit stain. 2 hours of sleep wasn't enough to deal with their bullshit but as co-workers (and friends, but he'd never admit it out loud) he had a responsibility to answer them. 

"Hey short stuff!"

Levi had just made a very big mistake.

"I know you're there!" They cackled and the sound filled his car through its shitty ass speakers. He made a mental reminder to buy a new phone and get a new number that Hanji could never have access to. She'd probably get it anyway the fucking psycho. "What do you want, four-eyes?" His voice came out low and raspy no doubt to the little sleep he managed to get and he winced - he sounded like horse shit. "Oi, little buddy, you don't sound good. Wanna come in for a physical?!" Levi's expression twisted into disgust at her excited, borderline psychotic tone. "Fuck no. Why are you calling anyway?"  
Hanji sighed (like  _he_  was the one being a pain), "Always ruining the fun, Shorty. The new course broke because some recruits were careless and we've changed it to hand-to-hand combat instead of agility so I have nothing to do. You're pretty good entertainment for such a pessimistic man."

Levi's already shitty mood dropped at the news. "Fan-fucking-tastic. My brats are slower than fucking seventy-year-old men and they're expected to do their mock trials next week."   
"Seeing how many of them have turned up in my infirmary, I agree." The instructor cringed because, yes, the recruits weren't exactly a good batch this year. God, he wished he was still a captain. "Ah, Moblit wants me. I wonder what my baby cheeks needs." Hanji proceeded to yell out to her assistant and a slow dull ache settled in a brain that was very quickly deteriorating from all the bullshit. Was his coffee getting cold? He was pretty sure it was.

"Gotta run, short stuff. Boring medical things to attend to," (Thank God for work), "but I'll see you when you get here to relieve Mike. Bye bye!" The man grunted a response and the call ended leaving his car in blissful silence. The road was a little fuller now, he dully noted, as he slowed down for the red light. He lightly tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and used his other hand to pick up the neglected coffee. It was lukewarm. Not very fond of wasting money (even if it only was $3.95) and in desperate need of a caffeine kick he took a sip. Levi regretted it immediately. He'd swallowed worst stuff on missions before he got relieved, sure, but that didn't mean he enjoyed drinking shit. 

Very fucking  _Ioud_ music blasted from his left and the man cringed. Who the fuck has their speakers (that were worse than the ones on his shitty phone, which was saying something) screeching at 7 a.m. in the mother-fucking morning? 

A very shirtless (attractive) kid, that's who.

Levi's mouth suddenly felt dry and he swallowed. Tan skin stretched over toned muscles, fluffy brown hair, and a very bad singing voice were the first things that he noticed. Second, was the bright ass eyes that were the most innocent things he's ever fucking seen. His gay heart started to act up (it's been a while since he's had some) and Levi pushed it down, feeling more irritated by the second. He directed his focus at the shitty music instead of the brat but that was a little difficult when the kid was trying to get his attention. Levi felt very awkward making eye contact with the kid. Bright eyes shouted something that was drowned by the music (Levi was still trying to discern the artist) and when the older man rolled his eyes, a sheepish expression formed on the kids face as he turned down the dial. "Hi." The kid breathed out, inhaling deeply to regain his breath from all his shitty singing. Levi blinked. "Can you help me? I'm kind of lost." For somebody who was lost, he was grinning like that cat from that weird ass movie - Alice in Cardland or some shit. (His grin wasn't creepy though, Levi admitted).

"Where are you going?" Levi sighed deeply as if this kid was the bane of his existence. His shitty music certainly was. The brat - how old was this kid anyway? - leaned over to squint at the dim screen of his phone before rattling off an address. Another sigh escaped the older man's lips and he probably should start buying some painkillers because he dealt with too many idiots in a single day. "That's two blocks away, kid."  
"I'm not a kid!" Bright eyes replied, sounding exactly like a kid. "I'm twenty-one years old." Ah, so that's his age.   
"You're a kid to me, brat."  
That caused the other male to squint at him. "How old are you anyway? You can't be that much older than me because you look around you late twenties."   
"Thanks," Levi said dryly. This old ass traffic light was sure taking its damn time to turn green.  
"You're welcome!" was the cheery reply, "and two blocks away? This area is so confusing, I don't know how Mikasa does it." Must be his girlfriend. Why the fuck is this kid visiting so early? "Thanks man, my GPS wasn't working." The kid scratched his head and tapped at his phone muttering something under his breath.

  
Levi turned his tired eyes to the slow ass traffic lights, their conversation seemingly done. Still red. He felt eyes burning into the side of his head and another deep sigh left his lips. He's had to of broken some sort of record of number of sighs in a small period of 10 minutes. "What do you want, brat?"  
"Where are you off too?"

Levi has reached the conclusion this kid is an idiot.

"If you couldn't tell by my attire, I'm heading to the military base."  
"Shouldn't you, I don't know, be there already? Don't soldiers wake up at the crack of dawn or something?"  
"Not when you're me." Levi kept his tone clipped and answers short because his headache was gradually getting worse and the kid's attractive face and body's effect wore off from all the stupid shit coming out of his mouth. The was a short silence before the guy spoke up again.

"So... you come here often?"

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Levi muttered, watching the kid's grin stretch wider through half-lidded eyes. When was this fucking light going to go green? He made a mental of reminder of filing a complaint. Whoever looked after these lights was going to get a very strongly worded complaint. "Hey, just trying to make conversation."  
"Doing a pretty shitty job at it."  
"You're still talking, aren't you?"  
"Cocky shit."  
Bright eyes yawned, stretching, and Levi will vehemently deny for the rest of his life his eyes didn't follow the movement. There was a flash of... was that pink paint? on the kid's shoulder that confused Levi to no end. Levi stared. The kid noticed, thoroughly confused, "Um... hello?"  
“You using your body as a canvas?”   
“Ah, what-no! Um,” the boy flushed a pretty shade of pink (that Levi swore matched the tone on his shoulder), “I was being a model for a friend of mine. I must’ve accidentally got paint on me.”  
“Ah, so that’s your excuse for being shirtless.” Levi replied lazily, tapping his fingers on the wheel with his head cocked sideways to observe the kid. “It’s not an excuse!”   
“Sounds like one to me...” Levi trailed off, realising that he didn’t even know this guy’s name. (Not like he needed to know; he wouldn’t see him again). The realisation seemed to spread to the other male, too. “Oh, by the way I’m Eren! Eren Jeager.” Eren Jeager’s grin went crooked and Levi refused to think that it was cute.   
“Eren, huh?” The name rolled off his tongue and the kid’s – _Eren_ – eyes flashed with something Levi couldn’t decipher 3 metres away in his car. The light still wasn’t green when the older man flickered his eyes to it. The company who owned this traffic light was definitely getting a complaint. “So, what’s your-”  
The brat was interrupted by the flash of green (thank you Jesus) in Levi’s peripheral vision. “It was a pleasure to meet you.” Levi said dryly, before driving his car forward, leaving a dumb kid with a dumb expression on his face.

Levi checked the time feeling sour because he was very late.


	2. Shirtless Excuse #2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren mourns his idiotic behaviour; drools over his memory of mysterious uniform guy, nearly gets into a fight with his sister.
> 
> All is well.

**11 A.M**

That guy was really,  _really_ hot. Eren felt embarrassment creeping up his neck with a flush of pink because god, he acted like such an idiot. "Where are you headed to?" He had asked, even though it was clearly obvious that the guy was in fatigues and where else was he going around 6 in the morning? Eren has a very big thing for men in uniform, and  _damn_ that man was sexy. Not to mention that those muscles. He was a total goner for muscles. The brunet always found himself acting like a fool around men he found attractive, a fact he often mourned about. Thanks to Mr. Sexy's (he never got the guy's name, so Mr. Sexy it was) advice he managed to get to Mikasa's new place with little difficulty and immediately flopped onto the couch face-down once an irritated, tired Mikasa opened the door for him. He ignored her ( _"Eren, it's not even seven in the morning and it's my day off!")_ to reflect on his pathetic existence. 

"Eren," Mikasa said to him mid-flip of making them pancakes, "next time message me when you're coming so early. I love that you're here but I also love sleep, too." The smell of sizzling pancake batter floating around the house rose him up from his self-deprecating state, shuffling over to the connected kitchen. "Also, put on a shirt." Eren grinned at his sister, leaving a loving and messy kiss on her cheek that had her rolling her eyes, and going to grab his duffel bag. The brunet was staying at Mikasa's to help her unpack all her things, and help her get settled into the other part of town. (She didn't need his help but he knew she appreciated it, it would be the first time they lived apart and Eren was still a little emotional). Mikasa's new place wasn't too far away - only a little under half an hour away - and she had moved to have a faster commute to her work at the gym. She had recently been promoted, too, and the brunet was still very smug about it. He still didn't have his own job and having dropped out of university, he needed to feel proud for his sister. He certainly wasn't getting any accomplishments in his life. 

Eren hadn't seen her new place yet in person and from his snooping, it was a decently sized two bedroom apartment. Why she had gotten two bedrooms, instead of one, puzzled him but he pushed it aside. Every time their friends did something, it was at Christa's place. She was loaded. He dumped his stuff in the second bedroom, before continuing his exploration of Mikasa's apartment. Boxes of varying sizes rested against the walls, ready to be unpacked later, and bits of second-hand furniture they had picked up with Armin mostly filled up her apartment. (There was so many boxes, did his sister always have this much stuff?) The only decoration in Mikasa's room was a picture frame she had set on the bedside table in her room. It was of Eren, Armin and Mikasa two years ago when Eren's dad was still around and it warmed his heart. All three of them looked so happy, the two being squished at his side and he grinned for the camera. Mikasa had a small smile on her face as she clutched the red scarf he had given her when they first met while Armin looked frazzled, clearly not ready for a picture. Eren chuckled at the memory of him yelling for a surprise picture and grabbing the two for Connie to snap away. The picture also reminded him of how much unpacking they had to do today. 

"Eren?" Mikasa's head poked through the doorway. "Breakfast is ready." She watched him gently set down photo frame, reminiscing the time too, by the look on her face. "Okay," Eren murmured softly. The smell of pancakes brought Eren back to his energetic self with his stomach following fast after. He hadn't eaten dinner because the artist didn't believe he should feed his model after dragging him out so late. ("I'm letting you sleep on the couch'," the asshole had said, "that's already kind enough.") The brunet followed his sister eagerly because while she wasn't the best of chefs, she made mean pancakes. Eren was already drooling when he saw them, immediately tearing into it. Mikasa gracefully began her meal, a stark contrast between the two. Her disgust was clear in her eyes so, with a sheepish grin, he gently let down the OJ he had been sculling. "So, Eren..." Mikasa began hesitantly, and Eren stiffened. He knew that tone, knew his sister. The twenty year-old shifted in his seat, uncomfortable, because whatever she was going to say wouldn't make him happy and he really didn't want to unpack Mikasa's place with rooms full of tension. The brunet waited for his sister to continue. She never beat around the bush. "I want you to move in." Eren locked his jaw, running his tongue on the insides of his teeth, forcing his irritation down. His sister pressed on to explain, ignoring his warning eyes. "You don't have a job and we both know Armin can't pay his half of that tiny apartment that he doesn't live in anymore. You won't be able to find a roommate quick enough, your rent is due next week, and you're broke."

"I can't Mikasa." So that's why she has two rooms. Eren felt his anger flare up, because she was always doing this, always doing things for him, always doing things for his benefit without him asking. A cold, worthlessness feeling wormed its way into his joints and settled in his bones. "Listen to me-"

"Mikasa, drop it."

The room simultaneously felt cold and rose in temperature at the same time. The tension was worming its way, clenching around his throat. "Fine," Mikasa spoke softly after a long, awkward pause, "but please consider it." The steel glint in her dark eyes told him that this wouldn't be the last time this would be brought up. Eren nodded stiffly, Mikasa resumed eating her pancakes, and it felt like he could breathe again. He would never tell her how worthless he felt next to her - a deadbeat brother, no stable job, no proper social life. He didn't want to bring her down because she was too concerned with taking care of him. (She had done enough for the past sixteen years they've been together. He couldn't take ask any more for her). Slowly the remaining thickness that had built up around the room dissipated and by the time Armin arrived both of them had resumed their usual routine. There was a familiar peace circling around the three of them as they unpacked boxes and put things away, arguing what should go where and whether that look better here, or there. "Eren," Armin tiredly began, "that's not right."   
"It fits!" was Eren's reply, and the blonde rolled his eyes. "It's not the right colour." The two turned to Mikasa for her input but found her struggling to conceal her smile and bubbling laugh. Eren grinned a bright grin and Armin's lips curled into his relaxed smile when Mikasa couldn't contain her laughter. "Eren, Armin's right."  
Eren huffed, watching in faux irritation as his blonde friend took down the accessory piece he was pretty sure Jean the horse had gotten Mikasa. "This is betrayal," Eren whined as he dramatically fell on top of his sister, "Betrayal!"

  
"Get off me, drama queen, you're heavy." Mikasa groaned.

"I am not!" He turned to his blonde friend with Bambi eyes for support and sulked when he found none. 

"Eren, where's your shirt?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't updated in so long, I'm sorry! I didn't know if I wanted this to he solely Levi, and I started to be unsure halfway through. If you'd be kind enough to comment whether you don't mind having Eren's pov or just Levi, it'd be much appreicated. I don't mind rewriting this chapter with Levi.
> 
> And this chapter is so short. I'm terrible, I know.
> 
> Thank you for reading :)


	3. Shirtless Excuse #3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren's shirtless as ever, the lights are slow as usual, and Levi's falling a little more.

Loud, obnoxious music was heard even before he turned the corner.

Levi had a hunch that this was unfortunately becoming a more regular occurrence then he’d prefer. (He actually didn’t mind, his eyes needed the blessing, but he’d never admit that).

“Uh, hello again?” Bright-eyes said in the car across him his, a sheepish smile on his face and awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. The older man had witnessed first-hand what the brat’s dancing skill were in the span of five minutes – if you counted wiggling your ass in the driver’s seat and throwing around your hands dancing, that is. Eren quickly turned down the knob and his atrocious music became quiet background noise.

Levi’s eye lingered on the (naked, again) muscular torso and a smug, a satisfied feeling settled in his chest as the brat’s tan skin flushed pink from his gaze. He was shirtless. Honestly, at this point he would be surprised if the brat _wasn’t_ shirtless. “You’re very energetic this morning.” Levi drawled. Eren, if he remembered correctly (of course he remembered correctly, he couldn’t get the damn name out of his head), grinned a smile that was more teeth than lip so much that it was oddly endearing. “Of course! It’s a lovely morning!”  
The military instructor raised an arched brow, “but it’s raining?”  
“And?”  
“You take me as a sunny day kind of person.”  
“Aw, you’ve been thinking about me?” Eren leaned closer to the rolled down passenger side window with that damn smile again.  
“Keep dreaming, brat,” and with an afterthought Levi added, “isn’t it a little too cold to be wearing no shirt this early in this type of weather?”  
“Ooh, he cares too!”

The dark-haired man rolled his eyes at Eren’s dumb ass behaviour. “Whatever Eren. Unlike a little brat like you, I’ve got places to be and people to yell at.”  
For a moment Bright-Eyes looked like he was about to fire back a comeback before his (beautiful) eyes widened considerably. “You remember my name! You _have_ been thinking about me.”

“It’s not too difficult to remember shitty things like names.”  
“Still. While we’re talking about names, you wanna tell me yours?”  
“No.”  
“Aw c’mon,” Eren whined, “I see you nearly every morning. I deserve a name.”  
“And you call yourself an adult.” Levi smirked as the kid narrowed his eyes. _Cute._

A phone buzz snapped the two out of an intense staring contest. Bright eyes flickered to the offending object and scowled. “Not this again…”  
Levi would be lying if that didn’t pique some curiosity. The raven deliberated whether he should ask if the kid was okay or not. It wasn’t like they were friends either, they barely knew each other. (But they weren’t strangers, Levi heard deep down in his heart). Eren seemingly didn’t need to have been asked, he was already spilling out the source of his frustration.

“It’s my sister,” he began, “she recently bought a house around the area, like you know because that’s how we met… uh, anyway, she keeps asking me to move in with her and god I love her, I really do, but she’s always been really – what’s the word? Controlling? No…”

Eren trailed off, his nose scrunched up and his eyebrows knitting together as he struggled to find a word to fit his sister. The gesture was oddly cute. _Levi get a hold of yourself._ He also realised, with guilty satisfaction, that this Mikasa girl was his sister and not his girlfriend. _  
_ “Engaged?” The older male offered up and his suggestion was taken in with a soft nibble of Eren’s bottom lip. Levi’s were locked on the motion, so much that he almost missed what Eren said next. “Yeah, that fits. She’s always doing stuff for me and I appreciate it, but she needs to focus on her own life because she’s got a lot going on. I’m an adult and I can take care of myself, y’know?” Eren’s tan fingers ran through his hair and Levi’s eyes followed the movement. “She’s not my mother.”

Levi stared at Eren’s tired, pretty eyes and sort of felt sympathetic to his current situation. He could tell that Eren was feeling pretty shitty about the entire thing. The raven didn’t really know what to respond with. He was never much of an advice giver, that was always Petra’s job whenever he himself had something he couldn’t figure out on his own. Eren’s checks dusted pink as he realised he just vented and rambled on to Levi and his hand went to rub the back of his neck in a sheepish manner. Considering that the kid had already done it many times before during all their encounters, Levi assumed it was a habit of his. _Cute._

“Sorry.” The brunette apologised meekly with his green eyes flickering between the car door and Levi himself. “No problem kid,” Levi told him after a clear of his throat. There was a short silence that was quickly becoming rather awkward. The raven took a glance at the lights and was met with a bright red glaring back at him. “So what’s your excuse for being half-naked this time, brat?”

“I forgot to put one on this morning. S’not like it matters, anyway, since it’ll just be taken off regardless.” At that, Levi raised an arched eyebrow. The brunette flushed at his words and quickly rambled to save himself. “No, no, not like that! I’m doing, uh, modelling for an artist who specialises in body art. It’s for his portfolio-”  
“Alright, kid. No need to explain yourself.” (Levi felt the slight jealousy he felt fade away and was annoyed that it was there in the first place, but he couldn’t help but be a _little_ relieved).

Levi took another glance at the street lights and with a feeling he couldn’t place, he stared at the yellow colour. He had missed the green completely. Eren, always a late reactor, looked at the lights too. His grin was a mix of amused and sheepish.

(Levi refused to admit that it was only _slightly_ adorable).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah??!?! Is this an update??! My eyes are tricking me.
> 
> Yes, it's me. I'm not dead despite my many months of absence. I've actually been reading a lot of work here so that inspired me to start tapping away on this chapter that's been collecting dust in my files. I also recommend checking out snakemittens here on Ao3, if you haven't already. Their work is amazing 1224729/10 would rec. They're the main reason I stopped being lazy haha
> 
> Until next time, thank you for reading :) 
> 
> [My tumblr!](https://caandleworks.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Levi should stop denying that he wants to bone the kid he just met.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this a little bit, I'm sorry if any of the characters are too OCC because I'm still working on getting everybody right.


End file.
